Lamp socket



Nov. 27, 1934. JQHNSQN 1,982,306

LAMP SOCKET Filed July 6, 1951 Patented Nov. 2 7, 1934 UNITED STATESPATENT @FFICE LAMP SOCKET Gustaf A. Johnson, New Bedford, Mass.Application July 6, 1931, Serial No. 548,883

Claims. (01. 173-358) This invention relates to electric lamp socketsand is herein exemplified in that type of such devices commonly known ascandle sockets.

One of the important objects of the invention is 5 the simplificationof'the socket in which an insulating disk is employed forinsulating thecentral socket terminal which disk is locked within the shell againstrotation by spinning a portion of the shell around its periphery.

10 Another important object of the invention is the provision of asocket member which may be made of a uniform length adapted to bemounted upon supports of different lengths or upon an extensible supportin order to fit tubular jackets of different lengths.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a socket ofsimplified construction with a minimum of parts, which is easilyassembled and can be manufactured at a low cost.

Other objects of the invention will be more specifically described andpointed out hereinafter.

One of the important features of my invention consists in providing adisk of porcelain or other suitable insulating material adapted to befitted in the base of the screw shell for insulating the central socketterminal which disk is held firmly locked against rotation by spinning aportion of the screw shell around its periphery. The use of such a diskeliminates insulating parts and great- 80 ly simplifies the constructionand assembling of the socket.

Furthermore, by fastening to the disk a member to which a support of anylength may be secured, the socket may then be adapted for supports ofvarious lengths which constitutes another feature of my invention. Thisfeature is of special importance in relation to candle sockets becauseit standardizes the socket member of such sockets which is of greatadvantage to the manufacturer. Heretofore, the jackets used inconnection with candle sockets, which jackets have simulated candles,have been of various lengths which required the manufacturer to keep onhand a stock of each length in order to fill orders promptly. In orderto avoid carrying a large inventory of different lengthasockets havingextensible supports have been produced, but have not proved entirelysatisfactory nor have they been accepted by the trade to such an extentas to eliminate the necessity of carrying a supply of sockets withdifferent lengths of supports. By making the socket member, that is, thescrew shell and contacts, complete and providing it with a member towhich may be secured a support of any length, either extensible ornonextensible, and by providing a supply of supports of various kinds,orders for specified sockets may be rapidly filled by the singleoperation of fastening the supports required by the order to the socketmember. This obviates the necessity of carrying a large stock ofcompleted and assembled candle sockets of various lengths.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating my invention as applied to acandle socket, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a complete candle socketfixture with the lamp in position; Fig. 2 is a vertical centralsectional view of the fixture with the candle jacket removed showing anextensihis support; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same looking fromright to left in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a central sectional view of the shellwith insulation and contacts but taken on a line perpendicular to thesectional view in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the shell;Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the insulating disk looking downwardly inFig.4; Fig. '7 is a bottom plan view of the insulating'disk; Fig. 8 is aplan View of the insulating member which is mounted on the bottom faceof the insulating disk; Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of theextensible support of the socket on line 99 in Fig. 3; Fig. 10 is a sideelevation of a socket member with a nonextensible support; Fig. 11 is aview in perspective of the central terminal or'contact and Fig.

12 is a similar view of the shell terminal or contact.

Referring to the drawing, the socket member comprises a lamp receivingscrew shell 15 having mounted in its base an insulating disk 16 whichmay be of porcelain or any other suitable I insulating material. Thebase of the screw shell is provided with an opening 17 approximatelycircular to expose the outer face of the insulating disk, which openingleaves an inwardly extending flange 18 on the base of the shell and uponthis flange is seated the insulating disk 16.

In order to secure said disk in fixed position in the base of the shell,its periphery is rounded over on its top edge and that portion of theshell adjacent thereto is pressed or spun inwardly over said roundedsurface so that the insulating disk is held firmly fixed between theflange 18 and the spun portion 19 of the shell. The disk 16 (Figs. 6 and7) is provided with a central circular opening 20 and with 2.rectangular recess 21 formed in its outer surface for receiving andholding the top portion of a forked member 22, said top portion havinga.

projecting collar portion 23 adapted to enter the opening 20 in the diskand to have its end I upper end to make the sprin contact.

turned over and riveted or screwed upon a shoulder 24 countersunk in theupper face of the disk whereby the forked member 22 is riveted to thedisk. The forks or shanks of the forked member are relatively short andeach is provided on its end with an outwardly turned finger 25 designedfor supporting and holding in place an insulating cylinder 26 interposedbetween the screw shell and the imitation candle jacket 27.

Mounted in the disk 16 are two terminals or contacts 36 and 31, theformer being a central lamp contact and the latter a shell contact. Thecontact 30 is in the form an elongated fiat bar (Fig. 11) havingthreaded through one end a binding screw 32. After being insertedthrough an off center slot 33 in the disk, the upper end is bent over inposition to make a contact with the lamp when inserted in the shell(Fig. l) The contact is bent fiatwise to form two transverse shoulders3d and 35, the latter of which engages a recessed shoulder 36 on thelower or outer face of the disk and former of which is provided with ahole 37 to ilitate thebending of the The shoulder 36 when the upper endis bent over holds the contact in position. The upper face of the diskmay also be provided with a rectangular recess 38 (Fig. 6) to preventlateral movement of the upper end of the contact when the lamp screwedinto contact with it.

contact 31 has threa 113d through lower end, binding screw 40 andcentral portion of its upper end is out and turned laterally to form asquare lug 41 adapted to be firmly held between the flange 18 of theshell and a projection d2 on the outer face of the when thcseparts areassembled. The two prongs 43 on the upper end of the contact engageholes ie in the disk to lock the contact against lateral movement.

A member 46 of the form shown in Fig. 8 made of thin sheet insulatingmaterial is mounted in the recessed bottom face of the disk 16 toinsulate the forked member from the contacts and the four extendedcorners 47 of the insulating member project in between the disk and theflange of the shell to hold it in position.

In the assembling process, the forked member 22 is first riveted to thedisk 16, the contacts 30 and 31 are mounted in the disk, the insulatingmember is then placed in position between the forks of said member 22with the said contacts fitting in its rectangular end slots and the diskwith the above parts mounted in the shell, after which, the shell isspun around the periphery of the disk to hold all the parts in fixedposition. The outer surface of the insulating member 46 and the outersurfaces of the three projections 48 all lie in the same plane andengage the flange 18 of the shell when the latter is spun around theperiphery of the disk.

The socket member, therefore, comprises the screw shell, insulatingmembers and contacts and the forked member and in this conditionconstitutes a standard part as shown in Fig. 4 which may be mountedeither on an extensible support or a non-extensible support of anylength in order to conform to candle jackets of various lengths.

vIn Figs. 2 and 3, the socket member is shown mounted on an extensiblesupport which comprises a lower forked member 50 having its lower end 51in tubular form with an interior thread whereby it may be threaded uponthe threaded part of a tubular fixture support 52 carrying insulatedconductors 54 and 55, which conductors are adapted to be carried upthrough the support and connected to the contacts 30 and 31respectively. The two forks or shanks of the forked member 50 areU-shaped in cross section (Fig. 9) and slidably mounted therein are twoskeleton extensible shanks 5'? also U-shaped in cross section, which areadapted to slide vertically in the forks of the forked member forincreasing or decreasing its length. In order to hold the extensibleshanks 5'? in adjustable position, a screw 58 is mounted transversely inthe upper ends of the forks of the member 50, the end of the screw beingthreaded through one of the forks in order to draw the forks together orto separate them by the manipulation of the screw. Cooperating with thescrew 58 is a transverse bar 60 having its ends reduced to form acentral projecting finger 61 on each end with a shoulder on each side ofthe finger. The fingers project through longitudinal slots 62 in theextensible members and through holes in the forks of the forked member50 so that when the screw is tightened the shoulders on the ends of thetransverse bar hold the extensible members in locked adjustableposition. By releasing the screw 58 the extensible members can be movedvertically to any desired adjustment and secured therein by tighteningthe screw. In order to mount the socket member on the upper ends of theextensible members, the latter are provided with end recesses 63 adaptedto receive the fingers 25 and the flanges of the extensible members attheir upper ends are swaged around the forks of the forked member 22thereby securing the extensible members permanently to the socketmember.

The non-extensible support '70 such as is shown in Fig. 10 is ofsomewhat similar construction to the forked member 22 being also aforked member having its lower end in the form of a cylindrical threadedportion 71 to permit it to be mounted upon the threaded part of thefixture support 52. The upper ends of the forks are of the sameconstruction as the upper ends of the extensible members 57 in Figs. 2and 3 and the flanges of said upper ends are swaged about the shanks ofthe forked member 22 in order to secure the member permanently to asocket member. I Since the various sizes of candle jackets are standard,the manufacturers by having a supply of non-extensible supports ofvarious standard lengths may, by attaching supports of the properlength, complete candle sockets within a very short time for delivery tofill an order for sockets of specified length.

In Fig. 1 is shown an electric light fixture in imitation of a candleillustrating the use to which candle sockets are put, in which thecandle socket is mounted upon the fixture support 52 as shown in Fig. 2a cup-shaped member '75 being mounted on the threaded portion of thesupporting fixture 52. The jacket 27 simulating a candle is then mountedover the socket and is held against lateral movement by the insulatingcylinder 26.

When the electric lamp 76 is screwed into the I shell the fixture thenpresents the appearance shown in Fig. 1.

In this embodiment of the invention, the candle socket is shown as beingof the keyless type,

that is, operated at a distance from the socket by a push button orother circuit closing device. My invention may, however, be applied tokey or pull chain sockets by the addition of a switch mechanism to thesocket mechanism, which application would be obvious to anyone skilledin lZi the art and would involve no material changes in the constructionof my socket as exemplified herein.

It will be observed that the socket of my invention is of very simpleconstruction and involves a minimum of parts and that it is easilyassembled thereby enabling the socket to be manufactured at a very lowcost.

It is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to theexact construction herein shown and described since it may be embodiedin other forms of construction within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is: I

1. In an electric socket, the combination of a lamp receiving screwshell having an open base and an inwardly projecting base flange, an insulating disk mounted in the base of said shell and seated on saidflange, said disk being provided with a rectangular recess in its bottomface and a forked member having its head fitting in said recess andfastened to said insulating disk,-

said forked member having a pair of parallel short forks depending fromsaid insulating disk and permanently fastened thereto a forked supporting member of a length suitable to the length of candle jacket withwhich the socket is to be used.

2. In an electric socket, the combination of a lamp receiving screwshell having an open base and an inwardly projecting base flange, aninsulating disk mounted in the base of said shell and seated on saidflange, said disk being tightly enclosed within the base of said shelland being provided with a rectangular recess in its bottom face and athrough and through slot, a center contact mounted in said slot, a shellcontact held between said disk and the flange of said shell, and aforked member having its head fltting in said recess and being rivetedto said insulating disk, said forked member having a pair of parallelshort forks depending from said insulating disk and permanently fastenedthereto a forked supporting member of a length suitable to the length ofcandle jacket with which the socket is to be used.

3. In an electric socket, the combination of a lamp receiving screwshell having an open base being provided with a rectangular recess inits bottom face and a forked member having its head fitting in saidrecess and. fastened to said insulating disk, said forked member havinga pair of parallel short forks depending from said insulating disk andhaving each a laterally turned end finger and permanently fastenedthereto a forked supporting member of a length suitable to the length ofcandle jacket with which the socket is to be used, each of the forks ofsaid supporting member having an end recess for engaging a finger on oneof said short forks when fastened thereto.

4. In an electric socket, the combination of a lamp receiving screwshell having an open base and an inwardly projecting base flange, aporcelain insulating disk mounted in the base of said shell and seatedon said flange, said shell tightly enclosing said disk and said diskbeing provided with a rectangular recess in its bottom face, a forkedmember having its head fitting in said recess and riveted to saidinsulating disk, said forked member having a pair of parallel shortforks depending from said insulating disk, each of said forks having anoutwardly turned flnger on its lower end, and a forked supporting membercomprising a pair of parallel forks connected at their lower ends by acollar having an interior thread, each of said forks having its upperend provided with a rectangular open recess and being permanentlyfastened to one of the forks of said first-mentioned forked member witha finger on said forked member seated in said recess.

5. In an electric socket, the combination of a lamp receiving screwshell having an open base and an inwardly projecting base flange, aninsulating disk mounted in the base of said shell and seated on saidflange, said disk being provided with a rectangular recess in its bottomface, a forked member having its head fitting in said recess andfastened to said insulating disk, said forked member having a pair ofparallel short forks depending from said insulating disk and anextensible support, said support comprising a pair of parallel shanks,U-shaped in cross-section and each being permanently fastened at one endto one of said short forks and a forked member adjustably mounted onsaid shanks in telescopic relation therewith.

GUSTAF A. JOHNSON.

